Tuesday, 24 April 2012

I want politics in Hull to become more rounded. Right now the 3 old parties are forcing us into a strait-jacket of austerity - but it doesn't have to be this way.

Greens are determined to protect the NHS and to fight tuition fees which put a millstone around students' necks. We reject the austerity agenda and look to minimise the damage being done to jobs and services. Young people should be supported to stay on in education. Greens press for progressive taxation on international banking and big business, and for the wealthy to pay their dues.

I first entered party politics due to global concerns like climate change, peak oil and the destruction of the environment. I also come out of peace activism and years campaigning against sanctions, and then war, on Iraq.

I've been active for years in the Hull Stop the War coalition, in Palestine Solidarity and, more recently, Hull Against the Cuts.

I first came to Hull to complete my degree in 1988. Since teacher training, I have taught in Hull and now regularly work as a supply teacher. I completed a MSc at Hull University in 2005.

I'm Chair of Hull and East Riding Green Party and a trustee of CHEF, the City of Hull and Humber Environment Forum. This year I also serve on the International Committee of the national Green Party. In 2010 I stood in the General Election for Hull North and for the local elections in 2011.

Some Manifesto points:

Jobs and Services:  I am committed to protecting services, saving jobs and fighting cuts. I will use Green experience nationwide to fight to keep all services for the vulnerable and needy.

Energy : I want to see a move into cavity wall insulation and funding for solar panels in the area, and investigate the prospect for wind turbines within the city.

Small business: I want to strengthen small businesses, pursue a local currency, revitalise the shop local campaign, and fight those giant corporations that cost us jobs.

Recycling: Hull's is taken to Walsall for separation and elsewhere for re-manufacture. I want to pursue local separation and reprocessing, and cutting down all waste.

Environment: Biodiversity should be encouraged within the city. This should include some habitats deliberately left to grow rather than ruthlessly cut back, as usual.

I endorse the Student Manifesto and see students as key members of our community.

I am a member of staff at the University and Vice President of the University branch of the University and Colleges Union at the University (the trade union for lecturers and senior administrative, computing, management and library staff of the university) and meet regularly with HUU sabbatical officers to establish links and to campaign on higher education issues. I live locally and my two children attend Bricknell Primary School.

I joined the Green Party after the last general election, disappointed at the failure of the main parties' policies to tackle the deficit without recourse to austerity measures and their failure historically to tackle the gap between rich and poor. I believe that the Green Party has the right values of fairness, social responsibility and environmental awareness.

Hull's demographic means it is especially vulnerable to spending cuts to the public sector. With the impending closure of BAe , the "caravan tax" and the relatively small private sector, we are not well placed in Hull to replace the lost public sector jobs. Unemployment is rising. 65 people are chasing every job advertised; youth unemployment is at an all-time high. Electing Green Party councillors will empower us to challenge local cuts and help direct policies and spending to the areas that need them most.

Manifesto:

1.We need well funded schools. Education is vital to any area in times of economic difficulty. Hull is recovering from its reputation of being bottom of the league tables and having the worst academic achievements. Resources need to be directed to maintain and speed this recovery.

2.Small, local business need the Council's help to protect them from increases in rent and pressures from the supermarket chains and the big corporations. Witness the number of empty retail outlets throughout the city  the Council needs to encourage businesses to re-establish themselves in Hull again. A vibrant city centre will encourage new business and bring jobs to Hull.

3.We need to increase the number of green jobs in Hull. The city is well placed to take advantage of sun, wind and water power generating technologies. The Council needs to be working to encourage companies using these resources to move here and employ local people.

4.We need affordable bus travel and car parking in the city centre. Businesses struggle if the public cannot access them.Investigating initiatives such as subsidised bus passes and tackling high parking charges will help raise revenue for retailers in the City centre.

As the Government is about to monitor all emails, websites visited, phone calls and texts, times, dates and to whom, should we care? Why should anyone be bothered? Surely it’s just another excuse for a paranoid government to pay anoraks to sit in disused aircraft hangars sifting through gigabytes of garbage for nuggets of our digital dross. more